''The Devious Path'' (german: Abwege), also titled ''Crisis'', is a 1928 German silent drama film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst starring

Gustav Diessl Gustav Diessl (30 December 1899 – 20 March 1948) was an Austrian artist, and film and stage actor. Biography Diessl was born Gustav Karl Balthasar Diessl in Vienna. In 1916, he was an extra on different stages in Vienna but was soon recruited ...

and Brigitte Helm.

Plot

Irene is frustrated by the inattentiveness of her lawyer husband Thomas, who refuses to go out with her and makes no secret of his aversion against her friend Liane. Attracted by artist Walter Frank, Irene visits him in his studio and agrees to his proposal to elope to Austria together, but Thomas puts an end to their plan. Later, she accompanies Thomas's colleague Möller to a nightclub, where she meets Liane and her friends and makes the acquaintance of boxer Sam. When Irene returns home, the couple seems to come closer to each other again, but when Thomas discovers a mascot which she took with her from the nightclub, he withdraws from her. The next day, Liane and her friends pay Irene a visit, who is still lying in bed. Enervated by her guests, she becomes even more infuriated when Thomas makes no move to send them away. She visits Sam's workout place and talks him into visiting Frank's studio together. After fighting off Sam's advances, Liane causes a scene by making Thomas, who was told of her whereabouts by Liane, believe that she was about to sleep with Frank. Some time later, Irene and Thomas appear at court for their divorce, but no sooner that their marriage has been dissoluted, they rediscover their feelings for each other and decide to get married again.

Cast

as Dr. Thomas Beck * Brigitte Helm as Irene Beck * Hertha von Walther as Liane * Jack Trevor as Walter Frank *

Fritz Odemar Fritz Odemar (13 January 1890 – 6 June 1955) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1927 and 1955. He was born in Hannover, Germany and died in Munich, Germany. Odemar's father was the actor Fritz Odemar Sr. (K ...

as Councillor Möller *

Nico Turoff Nico Turoff (Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and ...

as Sam Taylor * Ilse Bachmann as Anita Haldern * Richard Sora as André * Peter Leschka as Robert * Irm Cherry as Daisy * Irma Green as Gina * Tita Christescu as maid * Jimmy Lygelt as second boxer

Production

''The Devious Path'' was produced by Berlin-based company Erda Film for Universal Pictures. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

s Otto Erdmann and

Hans Sohnle Hans Sohnle (17 September 1895 – 24 March 1976) was a German art director.Chandler p.270 He frequently collaborated with Otto Erdmann on set designs. Selected filmography * ''The Loves of Käthe Keller'' (1919) * '' The Woman in Doctor's Garb ...

Release and legacy

''The Devious Path'' premiered in Hamburg on 10 August 1928 and in Berlin on 5 September 1928. In 1998, a restored version of the film was compiled from an incomplete German film negative and an incomplete print with French intertitles. This version premiered on Arte TV on 10 June 1999.

Reception

In his 1947 study ''

From Caligari to Hitler ''From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film'' is a book by film critic and writer Siegfried Kracauer, published in 1947. Background This work of film theory is one of the first major studies of German film between Wo ...

'', film historian Siegfried Kracauer rated ''The Devious Path'' as "negligible if it were not for the nightclub scenes in which Pabst manages to evoke the impression that his characters are as they are because of the emptiness of the world they inhabit". Commenting on the film's restoration, the ''Filmdienst'' called Pabst's film a chamber play which "clear-sightedly reflects its characters' hollow rituals" and has remained "remarkably timeless" in its handling of subject and form.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devious Path, The 1928 films German silent feature films 1928 drama films German black-and-white films Films directed by G. W. Pabst Films of the Weimar Republic Films with screenplays by Franz Schulz German drama films Universal Pictures films Silent drama films 1920s German films